Apartments slated for downtown Sarasota

A downtown parcel slated in pre-recession days for 365 condominiums has been purchased with a plan to build rental apartments on it.

Rosalyne Holdings LLC paid $4.5 million for the 6.5-acre tract at Cocoanut Avenue, north of Boulevard of the Arts and almost to 10th Street.

The property is zoned for up to 163 rental apartments.

Rosalyne, a group led by Bruce Weiner, is considering a multi-family development but has yet to file any plans with the city, said John Harshman, a Sarasota commercial real estate broker who represents the corporation.

"A whole lot of work needs to be done before there is a shovel in the ground," said Harshman, president of Harshman & Associates Inc.

Rosalyne, part of Weiner's Longboat Enterprises LLC, bought the land out of foreclosure from IberiaBank, which had taken control of the property following its acquisition of the failed Orion Bank in 2009. Orion had lent $21 million against the site in 2006, records show.

Weiner, who Harshman said has developed real estate in other states, owns Florida Classic Car Storage, on Central Avenue.

Atlanta developer Wayne Morehead had planned to build a residential and commercial project called CityPointe on the site, with up to 365 "affordable" condos.

It was among the first projects proposed in the wake of the city's Downtown Master Plan 2020, a document that encouraged walking neighborhoods, mixed-use developments and urban design features.

But Morehead delayed, altered designs several times and brought in new partners -- among them Miami-based Lennar Corp. -- in an effort to revitalize his CityPointe plans.

Ultimately, though, CityPointe became one of the more celebrated casualties of Southwest Florida's real estate bust.

Harshman said the parcel is one of the last vacant, bank-owned properties downtown. The other is the former Sarasota Quay site, which is effectively under the control of the Irish government after previous owner Irish American Management Services Ltd. defaulted on more than $100 million in debt secured by that 15-acre property.

Current zoning would limit structures on Weiner's tract to five stories. Some mixed-use component, such as a coffee shop or fitness center, will likely be included in the designs.

"All the market studies we have seen show there is the demand for a downtown rental project," Harshman said.

The site includes the Trinity Christian Fellowship Center, which remains open. Harshman said no notice has been given to the center to move. A call to the center was not returned.

Weiner's plan for apartments marks the second multi-family proposal to surface this year. In February, software entrepreneur Jesse Biter unveiled plans to develop nearly 200 apartment units at 1445 Second St., site of the United Way of Sarasota County Inc.

The two plans represent the first significant residential development slated for Sarasota in more than five years.